STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - WEST BRIGHTON - When the owners of Fast Signs saw Luann Martin's frowning face in the Advance as she stood next to a vandalism-marred sign outside Our Saviour Lutheran Church in West Brighton this past August, they knew what they had to do.

They decided to fix the sign for free.

They did want something in return: "The only thing they want to see is a picture of me with a smile on my face," Ms. Martin said.

Ms. Martin, of Livingston, had donated $10,000 to erect the brick and wood display back in 2009, as a tribute to her deceased father, Louis Ludwig, a longtime parishioner who volunteered his time as a handyman at the church.

"Knowing what a great person she was, seeing the picture of the frown in the paper, it really touches you," said Richard Vezzuto, who co-owns the Westerleigh sign shop with Kurt Kracsun.

Fast Signs had actually built the display with stopping vandalism in mind, Vezzuto said. The brick pedestal was designed to prevent teens from sitting on the sign.

Even so, this past August, church officials discovered chunks of the wood composite sign had been gouged out, including a large piece missing near one of the sign's gold-leaf crosses.

The sign sits on the corner of Bard and Forest avenues.

"We actually fixed it like you would fix a car. We actually used Bondo," Vezzuto said, referring to a type of putty used for auto body repair. They also had to replace some of the gold leaf.

They finished the repairs and returned the sign at the end of September.

"When the sign had been placed in its position, I was so excited," Ms. Martin recounted.

And in the end, Vezzuto and Kracsun got their payment – Ms. Martin, standing next to the pristine sign, a big smile on her face.